Meet Cheri Higman
Cheri Higman is the Education and Outreach Manager for the Northwest Avalanche Center (NWAC), a position that she took over in 2018. Cheri spends her time developing curriculum and structure for various adult and youth education initiatives and has been a pioneer of the Avalanche Center’s Youth Ambassador Program. In this interview, Cheri talks about her path to backcountry education and eventually to NWAC, her transition to skiing, and her goals as Education and Outreach Manager.
Tell me about your path to NWAC.
I grew up hiking along the Mount Loop Highway with my family, so being outside has always been an integral part of my life. During college, I was super into bouldering, snowboarding, and soccer. I was also among the first to jump on the Crossfit bandwagon…seriously! In grad school, where I studied economics, I started alpine climbing, which turned into splitboarding and then eventually into skiing. So I’ve been playing in the backcountry on some sort of snow-sliding device for 11 years now. During that time I have taken two AIARE Level 1s, an AIARE Avalanche Rescue Course, AIARE Level 2, and most recently AIARE Pro Level 1. I also sought out partners that balanced my strengths and weaknesses and that I could learn from.
I started my professional career as a statistician and analyst, with a focus on forecasting the growth and potential of high-tech markets. Simultaneously, I devoted my free time to planning and climbing bigger objectives. Climbing opened my eyes to a broader world, and opened my heart to a desire to cultivate a meaningful impact in my community.
With this realization, I promptly returned to school to become a teacher. I wanted to get girls stoked on math and computer science! Upon completing my degree, I began teaching high school students and eventually became the school’s outdoor education coordinator. I also started volunteering with Seattle Mountain Rescue. These experiences empowered me to pivot professionally again, seeking a more medical or snow oriented role. When NWAC posted the Education and Outreach Manager position, I was thrilled. This job is a culmination of all the things I love: education, snow, and statistics.
What drew you to NWAC?
I’ve always thought that NWAC is an incredible organization. I had been volunteering with NWAC for years prior to applying. My first volunteer event was a gatekeeper the second or third year of Vertfest, or maybe it was as a Snowbash raffle ticket seller… I forget. My commitment to volunteering ebbed and flowed depending on my bandwidth, but my reliance on using NWAC products for wintertime trip planning remained consistent. The avalanche and weather forecasts are honestly an invaluable resource. I also appreciate the multitude of educational talks that NWAC provides to my climbing community (Washington Alpine Club) and to snow-sliding and mountaineering groups, students, and instructors in our forecasting zones. NWAC is also an awesome asset to local search and rescue units. When I saw the job posting, it didn’t take too much consideration. I was stoked to apply and to contribute in any way I could.
What do you hope to bring to NWAC?
I hope to utilize my education background to create a uniform and formalized structure for our adult and youth programs. I also want to expand existing youth education opportunities and to build user-specific (skier, snowboarder, climber, snowshoer, snowmobiler) content. I hope to work with the NWAC team to generate academic papers, focusing initially on youth education, NWAC’s Trailhead Outreach program, and understanding trends in our forecast zones and avalanche related accidents.
Interview by Anna Meehan and Bobby Stewart.
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